Thread Description: In this series of posts I'm picking a franchise and then looking at how the franchise is doing in sales this generation compared to last generation, and then asking people why they think that change in sales occurred.  When I make the original post it will include a poll that will expire in ~10 hours.  Soon after it expires I will post the results, which I hope will spur a second round of discussion.  I'm calling these "Game of the Day" threads, but even if it is not the same day feel free to continue to comment in the thread. With the thread description out the way here is today's Change in Sales Game of the Day…

Game of the Day

9/18

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princes (Wii)

Note: These sales are only for the Wii version, since this thread is about comparing current gen to last gen sales.

Description:  The Zelda franchise is interesting because sales wise it's not Nintendo's largest, but it certainly has the biggest internet following. The change in sales from Wind Waker to Twilight Princes (Wii), is also interesting to look at because there are a number of factors to consider.  And it is also debatable whether or not a ~ 17% increase in sales over last gen is impressive or not, considering the Wii has increase ~147% over the Gamecube.  So for that reason, instead of a poll, there is a link to a 2 question survey today, where you can decide if you think the increase is impressive or not, and then vote for the reason the game did or did not increase significantly. 

After you do that, let us know what you voted for.  Is a 17% increase in sales impressive, if so do you think that increase is due to it being a launch title, people prefered the darker art style or something else? If you think a 17% increase is not impressive, why do you think the game didn't see a more significant increase in sales, was it because of the Gamecube version, or does Zelda just not appeal to the Wii's expanded audience? Do you have another explanation? Let us know.

Update: the results are posted on page 3.

Previous Change in Sales Threads

Forza 2 (9/13)

Metal Gear Solid 4 (9/12)

Mario Kart Wii (9/11)

You might want to make mention of the 1.56 million sales Twilight Princess had on Gamecube, so it total the game is close to 7 million.

@ koffieboon, Since this thread is about comparing sales of games this gen to last gen, I didn't want to add the Gamecube sales to the total number, since it is a last gen console.  Also, in the poll one of the reasons for the game not having a large increase in sales is the Gamecube version.  But I will still add a sentence in the original post pointing that out.  Thanks.

Oke, but it did probably prevent a considerable amount of people buying the Wii version.

All in all I think the game did about what you can expect from it. Only looking at the difference in userbase it probably should have increased more. But it was held back by the release of the Gamecube version as well as the fact that was originally designed as a Gamecube game, failing to fully make use of Wii's capabilities.

There are only a few votes so far, but I think it is interesting that the"impressive/not impressive" question has an equal number of votes so far.

Also I want to see if I can get people's opinions on a couple of the choices and how much they think it effected sales of Twilight Princess (Wii).

-The Gamecube version as koffieboon already stated, the GC version of Twilight Princess sold 1.56 million copies. So do you think those sales limited the Wii version. Basically I'm asking do you think the people bought the game for Gamecube instead of the Wii because they couldn't find a Wii or couldn't afford it yet, but still wanted to buy the game. Or do you think people who bought in on Gamecube did so because they had no intention of ever buying a Wii and so if there wasn't a Gamecube version they wouldn't buy the game?

How about giving a rough estimate of how much you think the Gamecube version held back the Wii version. I'm speculating 30-40% of the Gamecube sales would have gone to the Wii version if there was no Gamecube version. Thinking that is how many people bought the Game for gamecube because they couldn't wait to get a Wii to be able to play the game.

Well people don't seem to be interested in talking about the effect of the Gamecube version on the Wii version's sales.  But how about the change in art style between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.  I've embeded a couple of videos so you can remind yourself of the fan response at the debut of the two games.

So, how much of an impact did the change in art style have on sales.  Does anybody think that maybe the Wind Waker art style would allow Zelda games to appeal more to the Wii's expanded audience?

I don't think it was art style at all.

Wii was a massive success and Zelda was (and always is) an excellent game. It would have sold even more if they didn't release it on the GC. I have several friends who couldn't find wii's the 1st year, couldn't wait for Zelda, so got it on the GC.

...tp also came out on gc

I chose art style, but it wasn't just that. LoZ was my very first favorite game. There was no humor and little story to it, yet it was a masterpiece.

When they create a cell-shaded iteration of the game, they seem to vear from the thing I like most about the series: it's seriousness. The cartoony art style makes it kiddish. With the art style comes kiddy humor and cheesy swashbuckling. In my opinion, these things deviate from what LoZ is as a series. So it's not JUST the art style, but what comes with it.

WW and the DS games seem like the goofy little brother of what I(and I'm probably not the only on) consider the main series. Furthermore, things like adding trains and cannon weilding boats don't help.